Boeing Co's top managers appear to have treated illegal efforts to hire a US Air Force weapons buyer as "business as usual," the government said in court papers made available Thursday. The charge could set back Boeing's hopes to restore quickly an image besmirched by ethical lapses in dealings with the Penatagon, its biggest client.

It could also lengthen Boeing's suspension from new rocket launch business for the Air Force. Boeing was stripped of about $1 billion in launches and suspended after its employees were found to have had rival Lockheed Martin Corp trade secrets during a 1990s rocket competition.

Copyright Reuters, 2005